AuthorTopic: Matari Spiritual Calendar (Read 1170 times)

For the purpose of developing Minmatar player events centered on spiritualism and culture, I was forced to find a parallel with our own history of celebrations of significance, something to build on within the pastiche of New Eden. Since much of this, like the animism at the root of much of Matari spiritualism, springs from human interaction with the elements of the physical world, it stands to reason that the Matari of old might have developed a similar lexicon of festivals based on their relationship with Old Mother.

Given the specifics of Matar's orbit and axial tilt, a traditional calendar would be a bit different from that used since the Yoiul Conference, therefore some tinkering with numbers was necessary to break down the scope of Matar's seasons so that planning traditional celebrations or spiritual occasions would be consistent with the Matari worldview.

Spoiler(hover to show)

Based on the number of days in the Matari year, plus references to various seasons in the PF, the easiest way for me to create a calendar that would be possible for the Matari to preserve through the use of subtle tattoo and oral tradition (while they were captive to the Amarr) was to break the Matari year into sixteenths; four 339.25-day seasons further divided into 84.8125-day semi-seasons. A calendar of 85-day semi-seasons would yield a 1360-day Matari year, which leaves a surplus of three days. To compensate, the last semi-season of three seasons is shortened by one day, while one season retains the extra day and is known as a Full Season. The Full Season rotates among the seasons with the passing of each Matari year, until Matar has orbited for 5428 days, known as a Grand Turn of Old Mother. The cycle of Full Seasons then begins again. (I did also try a trimester calendar and a calendar of four seasons with three semi-seasons, but neither offered any clean break in the number of days or any perceivable rhythm in the rotation of festival days. This system just ended up being much simpler based on the 1357 number.)

For the purposes of the chart above, we can ignore the beige highlight, meant only to count the number of years passing in NEST. The violet highlight also denotes nothing of significance to Matari spiritualists, but shows the points at which the cycle of days offset between the two calendars resets. At the closing of the Full Seasons we see the yellow or green highlight, shown to mark the times when special celebrations could be held by any Matari, probably across Tribal lines for any who adopt this particular calendar. The YC column shows how many YC years have lapsed at the new Matari year for each row. The orange cell shows our current season, midway through YC117.

I feel it very important to stress that the naming of seasons, semi-seasons, festivals, and even the calendar itself likely varies between Tribes and Clans who choose to observe ceremonies and rituals in ways according to their own laws. Some might only use numbers, some ordinals (Winter Q1 = "First Winter", etc.), or proper nouns pertaining to their Clan or Tribal history. Should players feel that this framework suits their purposes, they should also feel free to create and insert their own as needed.

While this is still a work in progress, I intend to publish a full listing in the naming of the calendar's aspects used by many Clans of the Vherokior in Elfrard, including the Idisen.

Winter is called the Facing Quarter, as traders, travellers, and workers look forward to a new Turning of Old Mother. Its seasons are: Apgang, Gulkard, Ratilir, and Ennumindur.

Spring is called the Seeding Quarter, as relationships both personal and professional take root at the continuation of the year, and bonds are formed between families. Its seasons are: Braribik, Harping, Leurokko, and Skarlist.

Summer is called the Wheeling Quarter, when trade and travel reach their most harried and fortuitous, bringing good humor and good tidings among partners. Its seasons are: Sulmindur, Hrondrun, Ossung, and Vherald.

Autumn is called the Fading Quarter, when companions through the tradeyear turn north and south for home, and families take stock of the Turn now reaching another completion. Its seasons are: Teomold, Habrilek, Raudren, and Ustmanulf.

Each Quarter is numbered for its position in the Grand Turning. For instance, we are currently in the final year of another Grand Turn, so the current season would be Fourth Seeding Quarter, and in a few days we will commence Fourth Wheeling Quarter. In mid-YC119 another Grand Turn will be done, and we will return to First Facing Quarter.

Minor update in case anyone else makes use of this: the high summer season some call Ossung begins on or about Monday, 07.12.117, and is known by many traders of Corician descent as the season of settling accounts. Make sure to balance those books!